


Justify the Means

by idrilhadhafang



Series: Star Wars Rewrites — Backstory [7]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Canon Rewrite, Gen, Kylo Ren Backstory, Luke Skywalker Is Not an Asshole, Not Canon Compliant, Pre-Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Uncle-Nephew Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-31
Updated: 2017-12-31
Packaged: 2019-02-24 08:44:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13210155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idrilhadhafang/pseuds/idrilhadhafang
Summary: Luke confronts his nephew after the slaughter at the Jedi Temple.





	Justify the Means

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Drama
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing.
> 
> Author’s Notes: This was part of a longer fic, but I figured the scene could stand on its own. Anyway, in this version (part of my TLJ rewrite) Luke doesn’t try to murder his nephew, and Ben’s fall happens a different way that I may cover in another story.

  
It’s the moment that Luke lands on Yavin that he can sense that something is very wrong. And that’s putting it mildly. The Force is practically screaming its warning, and it’s through love, through panic and sheer love, that Luke finds himself sprinting through the grounds to the Academy. And it’s there that he sees the Academy burning. Flames rising up into the sky.

“No...”

Luke’s stumbling through bodies, bodies of his students, and it’s then that he sees that though some of them look like they’ve been cut down by blasterfire, some of the bodies, horribly enough, look like they’ve been cut down by a lightsaber.

But that can’t be, can it? And how does he know — ?

 _You already know,_ a part of him says.

But it can’t be.

Ben emerges from the Academy, and that’s when Luke realizes there’s something simply wrong in his eyes. They’ve gone cold and dead, they’ve gone dark. There’s something wrong with them.

“Ben,” Luke says, softly. “What happened?”

“I didn’t want to.” He swears Ben’s voice trembles a bit. “I tried to get them to stand down, but they didn’t. They...” He breaks off.

“You killed them?”

Slowly, Ben nods, and Luke feels, in that moment, like his galaxy’s fallen apart.

“How could you, Ben?”

“I didn’t want to.”

“What did the Dark Side promise you?”

“Balance,” Ben says. “In all things.”

“The Dark Side can never bring balance!”

“Have you met Supreme Leader Snoke? He can bring balance. He can do what the Jedi and the Republic never could.”

“He’ll leave destruction and death in his wake.”

“Will he?”

“I’ve seen the horrors the Dark Side can unleash on the galaxy. Ben...turn away from this path.”

Ben pauses. He looks like he’s really considering it. Then, “It’s too late.”

“Vader redeemed himself in the end,” Luke says. “You can too.”

Ben looks at him, really looks at him, and says, “I’m sorry.”

He draws his lightsaber. Luke draws his, and he knows in that moment that there is no turning back.


End file.
